1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is in the field of construction and pertains particularly to methods and apparatus for anchoring construction workers who are tethered by fall-protection lifelines during their construction shifts.
2. Discussion of the State of the Art
In the field of construction there are often job-site requirements for workers to work at different elevations at the site, sometimes traversing different elevations frequently. One example of a jobsite having varied elevations might be a trenching operation at a construction site where workers must work around above and descend into a deep trench in order to perform their tasks.
Such workers are required to wear full lifeline harnesses attached to shock absorption or fall-protection Lanyards or lifelines in order to prevent injury or death from falling due to accident. One problem with the current way lifelines and web lanyards are used is that workers tend to attach them ad hoc to any anchoring point that looks secure. For example, a worker may attach one to a hook on a backhoe. In that case the attachment might be secure but a chance exists that an operator will move the backhoe without noticing the lanyard attached to it and the worker attached to the lifeline.
Another problem is that when there are several workers wearing fall-protection harnesses attached to various and sundry anchor points, crossed lines can become an issue. Furthermore, many anchoring points are at ground level such as an eyebolt threaded into a steel plate. A fall protection reel, which is the mechanism that gathers the line in coil and provides frictional braking and shock absorption for fall protection is designed to operate vertically, utilizing gravity, and does not perform well when lying on its side, which results in many ad hoc attachment schemes devised by the workers.
Therefore, what is clearly needed is a lifeline anchoring system that solves the above stated problems in the art.